The artwork, “House on the Outskirts of Paris,” created in 1902 by Henri Rousseau, is an oil on canvas that embodies the Naïve Art or Primitivism movement. It is a cityscape genre painting currently housed at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
This piece of art is a picturesque representation of a suburban scene, capturing the tranquility of life on the periphery of a bustling urban environment. The composition features a central white house with a red roof, nestled against an expansive growth of trees and greenery. The lush foliage is rendered in various shades of green, creating an impression of a dense, vegetative border. In the foreground, a bridge or path leads to what appears to be a gate or entryway, guiding the viewer’s eye towards the lone figure walking along the pathway. The overarching palette is muted, with the natural elements portrayed in earthy tones that suggest a calm, early evening or dusk atmosphere. Henri Rousseau’s distinctive style is evident in the flatness of the forms and the dreamlike simplicity of the scene, which is typical of Naïve Art.
